SINGAPORE — Another two Indian nationals, aged 35 and 41, were charged in court yesterday with allegedly participating in the Little India riot two Sundays ago, while seven of the 33 Indian nationals who were charged last week had their charges withdrawn, amounting to an acquittal.

Of the remaining 26 who were charged last week, 21 were further remanded yesterday and will have their cases re-mentioned on Dec 23, while the other five will have their cases mentioned again this week.

The total number of men facing charges in relation to the riot now stands at 28. If found guilty, they could be jailed up to seven years and caned.

Three of the accused yesterday were represented by lawyers. One, 22-year-old Rajendran Ranjan, was represented by lawyer M Ravi, but the charges against him were withdrawn.

The other two were represented by lawyers R Kalamohan and Revi Shankar, both of whom requested for bail for their clients, but were rejected after Deputy Public Prosecutor John Lu appealed to the court to have all the men remanded an additional week for the police to conduct further investigations.

When asked by District Judge Lim Tse Haw why another week was needed, DPP Lu replied that the police had to go through “various video clips and CCTV records”, eyewitness accounts and statements, and hence required more time.

Although the judge granted the request, he told DPP Lu to relay to the police to “expedite” investigations and bring forward the accused’s cases where possible.

Some of the accused yesterday — who stood behind the dock in groups of seven — told the court through an interpreter that they were “innocent” and that their involvement was a “fabrication”. Some also said their families had yet to be informed of their plight, while one claimed he had been “beaten up” by police officers.

Judge Lim told them that yesterday was not the time for them to plead their cases, but noted their allegations and directed DPP Lu to look into them.

DPP Lu also said all the men had been granted access to the High Commission of India and that the Indian consular officers were in charge of making arrangements for them to contact their families.

Lawyer Amarick Gill was again present as a volunteer of the Law Society’s Criminal Legal Aid Scheme (CLAS) and told the court that the accused had been interviewed and tested for eligibility for the scheme and that legal representation was being arranged for them.

In a statement to the press yesterday, the Law Society said it had received applications for legal aid from the accused persons and had “collated a list of volunteer lawyers” to provide legal representation. “CLAS has processed these applications and will assign pro bono defence counsel for successful applicants as soon as possible,” said a spokesperson.

Speaking to TODAY from Sabah, Mr Ravi said he had been approached by two other families of the accused through non-government organisations in India and is the midst of communicating with the families.